Boston, MA --- The Lady Falcons of Fisher College squared off against the Wheelock College Wildcats on Thursday night at Fectau-Leary School in a NCAA – NAIA crossover matchup and earned a 69-55 victory.
The Falcons jumped out to an early 13-8 lead over the first 8 minutes before a Michelle Woods (Wilmington, MA) gave the lead to the Wildcats, 14-13 at the 8:19 mark. A pair of Javana Bernard (Waterbury, CT) free throws knotted the game at 17-17, before Porsha Grayson's (Merced, CA) layup put the Lady Falcons ahead 19-17 with 7:01 left.
The Lady Falcons turned up the pressure defensively over the next four minutes as they extended their lead to 24-19 on a Bernard 3-pointer with 4:35 remaining. Wheelock's Emily Doyle (Lynn, MA) answered with a three of her own to cut the lead to 24-22. After forcing a Fisher turnover, Katie Alsap (Quincy, MA) knocked down a jumper from the corner to give Wheelock a 25-24 lead with 3 minutes left until the break.
The seesaw battled continued when Porsha Grayson gave the lead back to the Falcons with a 3-pointer from the wing, before Shannon Garvey (Clarksburg, Mass) tied it at 27-27. The 1st half ended on Alsip's buzzer-beating 3 pointer but the Lady Falcons still led 34-30.
Javana Bernard led all scorers with 15 1st half points on 5-11 shooting. Porsha Grayson added 11 points for the Lady Falcons while Wheelock was paced by Michelle Woods' 12 points.
The second half started much like the first with both teams trading baskets on their way to a 36-32 Fisher lead with just over 18 minutes remaining. Alexis Akridge (Union, NJ) then extended the lead to eight with a jumper from the right elbow before knocking down a jumper from just inside the three point line on the very next possession.
Michelle Woods broke Wheelock's scoring draught by netting the one of two free throws at the 16 minute mark to cut the Fisher lead to 40-33. Over the next six minutes Wheelock ramped up the pressure, going on a 10-6 run to cut to 46-43.
Fisher responded, led by Christine Briggs (Rumford, ME), who's three pointer from the wing gave the Falcons a 55-46 lead with 6:56 remaining in the game. Alsip cut the lead to 55-49 with a three from the wing as the Wildcats looked to close the cap a minute later.
Briggs' night game to an end with 4:43 remaining after she picked up her fifth follow. With only six players dressed to start the night, the Falcons saw their lead closed to three points with 4:19 left.
Fisher extended their lead to 10 when Bernard knocked down two free throws while Akridge scored five points in 30 seconds, forcing a Wheelock time out at the 3:33 mark. Victoria Park's (Lynn, MA) scored her first two points of the night with 1:47 remaining to increase Fisher's lead to 12.
The Lady Falcons closed out the remaining of the half to claim the 69-55 victory, their 8th of the season.
Javana Bernard led all scorers 23 points, extending the seniors career total to 1,734. The Falcons return to action Saturday when they travel to the University of Maine – Fort Kent for a 2pm tip off. Their next and final home game will be next Wednesday, February 12th when they host Pine Manor College.